Vegan Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

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- This is the best vegan macaroni and cheese recipe EVER!! -

I’ve been eating a lot of macaroni and cheese lately. Between huge, heaping spoonfuls of real cheese, I’ve been pining for a less milk-heavy version that would appeal to my vegan friends. (and my former vegan self – yes, I was vegan many years ago!) But, vegan cheese leaves a lot to be desired. Career vegans, I know a lot of you are with me on that.

There are a few reasons I’m not a fan of vegan cheese. First, it’s highly processed, and second, it’s f***ing gross. Just like anything else in my kitchen I’m not happy with, I try to make it better. Vegan mac and cheese has already been perfected for the most part, so I was left to build upon an established recipe that I really enjoy.

Now, I have to give credit where it’s due: this dish was adapted by what is arguable one of the best vegan macaroni recipes out there, by the New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook. Published many decades ago, New Farm’s recipe has been bent and stretched countless times. And I’m doing it again.

The original recipe had a lot of oil, and I wanted to make it lighter. I also found it a little blander than I’d like, so I added some spices and used a few new liquids instead of plain water. The original recipe had a lovely texture, so I’ve left that just the way the authors intended.

The best vegan macaroni and cheese recipe EVER. This dish, based on the recipe by The New Farm Cookbook, is so spot-on creamy that I've served it to omnivores and they've never guessed it was dairy-free.

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups dry elbow macaroni

1/2 cup margarine (make sure you’re using a vegan variety!)

1/2 cup flour

2 cups unsweetened soy milk

1 cup vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon Bragg’s Amino Acids

2 tablespoon soy sauce

3 garlic cloves, pressed

1 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 cup vegetable oil (or more for thinning)

1 cup nutritional yeast flakes

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 cup breadcrumbs

Sriracha sauce to season

Instructions

Preheat broiler. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain the pasta through a colander and set aside.

Place the margarine in a medium saucepan and melt over medium-low heat. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon for about 2 minutes, or just until the roux begins to take a beige color. Stir in soy milk and broth, beating well to dissolve the roux. Add salt, Bragg’s, soy sauce, garlic, turmeric, and smoked paprika, then increase the heat to medium, and stir until the sauce thickens. Stir in oil and nutritional yeast, cooking for another 2 minutes. If you’d like to thin out the sauce, add another tablespoon or two of broth.

Spoon macaroni into 4 heat-proof ceramic bowls and top with a thick layer of breadcrumbs. Slide under the broiler for 3 or 4 minutes to crisp. Do not over bake, or the macaroni sauce will separate.

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Cooking Resources:

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Cool recipe, I’m going to try it. I’ve been interested in making it from scratch since I had it at The Veggie Grill. I’m also interested in cooking with nutritional yeast, which I’ve also never done. This should be fun!

Smart Balance makes a wonderful vegan margarine if anyone is interested. They put all of their information on the bottom of the containers, so be sure to turn them over to see which ones are vegan. Or, you can go to their website- SmartBalance.com.

This is by far the best vegan mac and cheese I’ve made. SO FREAKING CREAMY. My husband and I had ours with cut up hot dogs in it, because we are adults. We both enjoyed how vibrantly radioactive the color was. Nice job!

Hey there You could try using all oil – vegetable or olive oil – or perhaps some combination of vegetable oil and coconut butter. Coconut butter will change the flavor, but it might be good? I’m not sure. There’s only one way to find out. I suppose you could always use shortening as well, though the health-conscious person inside of my screams “no!!”

Trackbacks

[…] Eating cheese on its own is wonderful, but I’m a person who likes to take it a step further and ask, “What else can you do with this?” So while I still adore a well put together cheese plate, lately I’ve been thinking of ways to cook with artisan cheese. Purists might balk at the idea of heating these little works of art and mixing them with other ingredients, but from what I’ve learned over the past few years, artisan cheeses are ideal for cooking — especially when it comes to making macaroni and cheese recipes. […]

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Hi, I'm Steph. Stephanie Stiavetti. I have three primary goals in life: to teach you how to cook, to improve your health alongside your relationship with food, to make sure you enjoy your time in kitchen. Why? Because people who love what they eat live happier, healthier lives.
I just released a new cookbook, with 75 fresh recipes for cooking with cheese and pasta. I also write for NPR, Serious Eats, The Huffington Post, and KQED. Learn more.